Montenegro’s PM Lukšić and FM Roćen deny ever having contact with fugitive Darko Šarić

• Prime Minister Igor Lukšić and Foreign Minister Milan Roćen resolutely deny press accusations of ever having telephone or other contact with suspected drug-lord Darko Šarić
• Police refer to the supposed listing of Šarić's phone calls as ‘a crude forgery’
• Mobile operator Telenor denies the listing’s authenticity

Podgorica, Montenegro (4 December 2011) – Prime Minister Igor Lukšić and Foreign Minister Milan Roćen dismissed as falsified the alleged list of phone calls published by the daily Dan that links them to fugitive Darko Šarić, claiming never to have had any contact with the suspected drug-lord.

“I have never had any contact whatsoever, direct or indirect, with Mr Šarić,” the Prime Minister told the press earlier today. The Foreign Minister echoed the PM’s words and pointed to a number of factual errors in the document.

The daily Dan has published an alleged list of Darko Šarić’s phone calls made in 2008, which supposedly includes the names of PM Lukšić and FM Roćen.

“I see this as an attempt to discredit me and Mr Roćen as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration at a very important time for Montenegro, as we expect a decision about the opening of EU accession talks,” PM said, adding that he would call for a thorough investigation into this case.

Telenor, the mobile phone operator that allegedly submitted the listing to the police, denied the document’s authenticity, adding that such listing has never been produced by the company.

“The form and content of the listing in question is not in line with Telenor’s practice of submitting telecommunication traffic data at the request of relevant authorities in accordance with Montenegro’s applicable legislation,” the company said in a press release.

The police also denied having received such information and denounced the document as ‘a crude forgery’.

The Prime Minister said he strongly believes that the daily Dan has been fed false information and that they will cooperate in the forthcoming investigation.

“An investigation needs to be carried out, because several laws have been violated, and Dan should help us discover the source of such information. That is the only way we would be able to give full information to the public,” said Mr Lukšić.